Malice and Miracles
by WTFDIJR
Summary: The Z Fighters ally themselves with the Care Bear Family after a great evil threatens to destroy both Earth and Care-A-Lot. As both sides suffer heavy losses, love and hate collide in an all-out war to finally prove which is stronger.
1. When Worlds Collide

_**Authors Notes**_

 _This story is the re-write of a Dragon Ball Z and Care Bears crossover of mine originally titled "Shadow Heart Saga: The Fall of Mankind", that I first began writing almost fifteen years ago under a different username. The plot is more or less the same but with several alterations to the storyline, development, and interactions._ _I believe that I have grown much as a writer since then and I hope this re-write reflects that._ _That said, let's begin._

* * *

Chapter one: When Worlds Collide.

"We're now live in front of Satan City General Hospital where the ER's are full but the explanations are scarce. Good afternoon everyone, I'm Basil Everhurst for SCTV News. Its been two months since the discovery of Sopor Aeternus Syndrome, the so-called "Sleeping Sickness" but doctors here and abroad still don't have an explanation for the cause of the disease."

The camera cut to a middle-aged man in a lab coat as he sat at a cluttered desk apparently going over test results. "Its frustrating...its very frustrating. You'd think with medical science as advanced as it is that "We don't know" wouldn't be something heard when talking about the cause of a disease." The header on screen identified the man as Dr. Esen Tyllis, Director of Internal Medicine.

"For now, all authorities can agree on are the symptoms of Sopor Aeternus, which are sudden and profound loss of motor skills, acute lethargy, and rapidly diminishing speech and sight, followed literally minutes later by loss of consciousness and entry into a sort of pseudo-coma. The victims are reported to become unable to respond to pain or other stimuli almost as if they had entered a persistent vegetative state. From there doctors say the prognosis varies from case to case. We'll have more-"

Bulma sighed as she used the remote to kill the TVs power.

When the first few people fell ill, nobody noticed. With as many people that see doctors and hospitals in any given day, a few people suddenly fainting and going comatose could easily be overlooked even with no apparent cause. When it started happening repeatedly at the same hospitals and then spread to new ones, however, then it began to attract attention.

City officials had come to her early after discovering SA to ask for help in identifying a cause, but despite having some of the best scientific minds in the country on her payroll, Bulma had zero to offer them thus far.

To her, having no explanation was even worse than having a bad explanation.

The number of cases in Capsule City were thankfully low despite it being a mid-sized population center. Not that that was very comforting to the people with friends and family sick.

"I see they forgot to mention the part about certain death." came a mans voice behind her.

Bulma jumped slightly and looked over her shoulder to see her husband leaning against the doorway.

"Vegeta! You scared me for a second there."

Wearing a pair of black training pants with a matching black tank-top, the Saiyan Prince just smirked slightly but didn't move from the doorway. From his attire, Bulma was pretty confident he was leaving for yet another sparring session with Goku.

It had been almost a year since Majin Buu had been defeated. Vegeta, however, seemed to be stuck in the same cycle of perpetual training he had been in before the World Tournament. Whether it was for preparation for the next attack by God-knows-what, or simply a way to avoid his family, Bulma wasn't sure.

"Humans... its no wonder they left that part out. Wouldn't want to cause a panic after all. Earthlings scare so easily it seems." he continued.

Bulma groaned and rubbed her temples slowly. The Prince already had a penchant for downing and ridiculing humans, but after the 'Sleeping Sickness' made headlines it seemed to have worsened considerably. It was his opinion that humans were one bad-word short of stampeding themselves to death and he seemed to be fond of sharing this opinion with her at every opportunity.

"You're right Vegeta...the mortality rate for Sopor Aeternus IS very high, but there's no point causing a panic when people are upset enough as it is. I admit humans by and large DO have kind of a sheep mentality going on, but in the end I guess that's what makes them human." she said.

"Its what makes them weaklings." Vegeta countered, "A few of them get sick and die and the whole country wets its collective bed. This sort of childish squabbling would NEVER have happened on my planet."

Bulma turned around at her desk, facing him with an irritated look, "Oh and I suppose Saiyans never got sick? No one ever died outside of getting themselves blown up, blasted, or beat to death?"

He looked at her in silence for a few seconds before answering, "Of course some Saiyans fell to sickness, but the difference is we didn't feel we needed a press conference when it happened because it wasn't a big deal to us."

"Oh so if I get sick and die, is it not going to be a "big deal" for you?" Bulma shot back.

"Depends on how much your life insurance is worth." he answered with his trademark arrogant smirk.

Bulma's angry screaming was clearly heard even from outside where Goku was waiting.

"Wow...whats she so mad about?" he asked after Vegeta finally exited.

"None of your business Kakarott. Shes just being a female, that's all." he replied gruffly before taking flight towards their usual battlefield. Goku, knowing that he wasn't getting anything else out of Vegeta, kept his questions to himself and followed along silently.

...

In the clouds far above Capsule Corp, there are others who too were concerned with the current events on Earth. The Care Bears,who make their home in Care-A-Lot,were currently having a conference in the Hall of Hearts regarding the troubling turn of events.

"Current estimates put the number of sick at around 15,000 and growing. There is still no word on whether a cause has been identified." announced Bright Heart Raccoon, reading from his notes.

"The Caring Meter continues to slowly drop as well. As more and more people get sick, more and more of their family and friends begin to lose hope and give up." Cheer Bear added.

"How long will it take to fall to zero?" Tender Heart Bear asked from the podium. Friend Bear turned her head to the side as Secret Bear whispered in her ear, "Secret Bear says if it keeps dropping like this..."

She suddenly paled and looked at him with an astonished expression, "You sure about that?" she asked. Secret Bear nodded in response, so Friend Bear cleared her throat, "If it keeps dropping like this then...two months...three at best."

Everyone gasped in shock and disbelief. "That CAN'T be right! There's no way everybody on Earth could get sick in 3 months!" Good Luck Bear replied.

"They don't have to, there just has to be enough sick for the people around them to abandon hope. Loss of hope means loss of caring." Friend Bear answered.

Good Lucks expression changed from shock to sadness. It made perfect sense if viewed that way. Even in a large family, one terminally ill member could easily be enough to crush the hope out of the rest.

With a growl, Brave Heart Lion got to his feet. "We can either sit around feeling helpless or we can go find a way to help. The Caring Meters not going to quit dropping if we're here doing nothing!"

"But...what are we going to do?" Birthday Bear asked. At that moment the doors burst open and Wish Bear came running in with her Star Scope.

"Everyone! I've got an idea!" Wish Bear declared loudly. She took Tender Hearts spot at the podium and began to speak.

"I've come upon a woman named Bulma Briefs with my Star Scope. Her family appears to be the owners of a science and technology based company called Capsule Corporation and it looks like -" Wish began before being cut off by Swift Heart Rabbit.

"They have a cure and can fix everything?" he cut in hopefully.

"Ehh... sorry Swift Heart but...no." Wish answered.

"Of course not...that'd have been too easy." Grumpy Bear replied with a scowl, crossing his arms in annoyance.

"They're making progress though and probably know a lot more about it than we do. I think we should send someone down to meet her and try and get some answers." Wish finished.

After a few seconds of murmuring and discussion, Tender Heart banged his gavel on the podium. "I think she's right, its worth the trip down there if for nothing else than to see whats going on for ourselves. Who wants to come with me to-" .

At that moment he was interrupted by a sound like a thunderclap and the slight rattling of the windows and clouds. It almost felt like a small cloud-quake but subsided as quickly as it began.

"Yawwnnnn...wish I knew why it did that so often..." Bedtime Bear yawned from her seat.

"We'll have to worry about finding out later Bedtime. And I'll go Tender Heart." Brave Heart answered while getting to his feet.

"Ok then. Wish us luck everyone, we'll be back soon." Tender Heart announced. Wish ran outside to ready a cloud car for them as the meeting adjourned.

It was near dusk when the two Z fighters finally decided to stop their sparring session. "You don't have to be so rough you know, Majin Buu HAS been defeated you know." complained Goku as they landed back at Capsule Corp. He was still bleeding slightly from a cut on his forehead and had ruined yet another orange gi, though this one was at least still more or less in one piece.

Vegeta dropped to the ground beside him, looking about equally as roughed up as Goku. "Yes Kakarott I remember. But peace never lasts long on this planet, you of all people should know this. It is a Saiyans duty to stay sharp for battle..." he started to say but trailed off as he looked at his backyard where Trunks and Gotens toys were scattered everywhere.

Giving a disgusted snort, he continued, "Unlike our sons... Your youngest spends all his time with Trunks screwing off, and your oldest spends all his time either with his nose in a book, or with that unfortunately-named human female."

"Oh come on Vegeta shes a nice girl and has a good head on her shoulders...even if she IS Mr. Satans daughter." Goku replied.

Vegeta shuddered uncontrollably. The kind of arrogant boasting Mr. Satan showed during the battle with Cell was matched only by the depressing level of chickenshit cowardice he showed with Kid Buu. The entire Earth was seconds away from being obliterated (again) and this pitiful excuse for a human couldn't even muster the balls to talk to the same people he'd been fleecing and lying to for years.

"I suppose Gohan does at least have SOME taste in females, even if they were sired by that buffoon." Vegeta remarked while walking on the sidewalk up to his usual back entrance of the Capsule Corp building.

Goku followed, stepping over and around the numerous toys belonging to their sons that lay scattered everywhere. "Someone could get hurt back here, its dangerous to leave so much stuff just lying around."

Turning around in irritation, Vegeta glared at the taller Saiyan as he walked backwards up the walk. "This is EXACTLY what I'm talking about Kakarott! You waste time kissing up to your shrieking harpy of a wife, you half-ass your training just because we've had a few months of peace , and now you're describing our lazy sons toys as if they were some sort of booby traps! What'd you do, forget that you're a Saiy-AH!"

At that moment, Vegetas lack of attention and mockery of Gokus concerns caught up to him. Stepping blindly on his sons skateboard, he was completely unprepared when it slipped out from underneath him, bringing his rant to a dead-stop as he lost his balance and landed flat on his back on the ground.

Goku immediately broke out in a fit of laughter, doubling over and pointing teasingly at the Prince, "Guess they qualify as booby traps after all huh?"

With a loud snarl, Vegeta threw out his hand at Goku and fired a ki blast, clipping some of the taller spikes of hair and missing the Saiyans head by inches.

"Whoa! Vegeta relax its just a joke!" Goku cried in alarm. Getting to his feet, Vegeta grabbed the front of Gokus gi and literally pulled him down to his level. "How DARE you mock me Kakarott... I AM YOUR PRINCE YOU MORON!" he yelled in Gokus face.

Up in the skies over Capsule Corp, unknown to the Saiyans, Tender Heart and Brave Heart were descending in their cloud car towards Capsule Corp. Catching a glimpse of something very bright shining beneath them, Brave Heart leaned over and looked down at the Earth.

"Uh Tender Heart...shooting stars don't sometimes decide to fall up instead of down... do they?" the lion asked. "Of course not." Tender Heart answered, a little confused by the question.

"Then what is THAT?!" Brave Heart replied, pointing to the ground. Tender Heart looked over the side of the car and was greeted by what looked like an extremely bright shooting star coming towards them at high speed.

"That is NOT a shooting star!" the bear replied in alarm. Exchanging horrified looks, he and Brave Heart had no choice but to simultaneously unbuckle themselves and dive out of the cloud car. Just seconds after jumping Vegetas stray blast hit their car, vaporizing it entirely in a roaring explosion.

Watching through her star scope, Wish Bear could only gasp in sheer panic. Hearing her startled cries, Cheer Bear had come running over after noticing the alarm on her friends face.

"The car did WHAT?!" she asked after Wish relayed what happened. She grabbed the Star Scope and, sure enough, Tender Heart and Brave Heart were free-falling to Earth.

"Oh no oh no oh no oh no Cheer Bear do something quick!"

Closing her eyes in concentration, her symbol began to glow brightly. Seconds later, a rainbow materialized underneath the two falling Care Bears, saving them from certain death. Brave Heart breathed a shaky sigh of relief as he and Tender Heart slid towards the ground.

Vegeta, meanwhile, was still in full rant mode while Goku tried, unsuccessfully, to calm the angry Saiyan down (or at least get him to relax his grip on the front of his uniform). "Arn't you overreacting a little bit? Come on, I was just trying to be helpful!" Goku offered weakly.

"No I am NOT overreacting Kakarott so save the ass-kissing for your man-hating shrew of a wife! You show up wanting to spar but then act like a total pussy the entire time we're fighting! Its embarrassing to even acknowledge you're a Saiyan, do you know that? I don't CARE that it was your Spirit Bomb that destroyed Majin Buu, you've become softer than vanilla pudding ever since! And let me tell you something else-" Vegeta began but never got to finish.

At that moment a flash of light appeared, accompanied by a rainbow appearing out of thin air. "What the?!" both Saiyans said in unison. As confused as they were about a rainbow suddenly appearing in a cloudless sky at sundown, they were even more confused when a child-sized bear and lion came sliding down and crashed into the ground in a heap.

"Owww...my head.. you ok Tender Heart?" the lion asked, rubbing the back of his head. The bear nodded, "At least we landed on this instead of the street." He and Brave Heart slowly climbed to their feet, noticing for the first time that they landed right beside someone.

"Oh... uh...hello there." Tender Heart said in a greeting.

Goku looked at them in confusion for a moment before his face suddenly lit up. "Wow! Its the Care Bears! Man its really been a while huh?" Vegeta was stunned speechless but, predictably, it didn't last long.

"Kakarott, explain this at once!" Vegeta demanded, letting go of his gi and pointing to their unexpected visitors.

"You've met us before?" Brave Heart asked in surprise.

"Well yeah, but not you two. It was a white bear but she had a star emblem instead of a heart." Tender Heart looked a little surprised to hear this, "Are you talking about True Heart?" he asked.

"I think so... she came to visit once a long time ago when I was just a little boy. I didn't really have many friends as a kid..." Goku explained.

"Who'd have ever guessed..." Vegeta muttered sarcastically, "Have fun with your...things...I'm going to the gravity room, assuming Bulma actually got off her ass and fixed it."

"Bulma...Briefs?" Brave Heart asked. With a surprised look, Vegeta turned back around to face the lion. "Why do you ask?"

"Shes who we've come to see. Im Brave Heart Lion, and this is Tender Heart Bear, we're from Care-A-Lot." he explained. "Well I'm Goku, and this is Vegeta." Goku introduced. Vegeta rudely rammed his elbow into the other Saiyans gut, giving him a clear "Shut your hole" glare.

"I don't care where you're from or what you're called, why are you asking about Bulma?" Vegeta asked, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"We've been watching the sleeping sickness that's going around from Care-A-Lot but don't know what to do about it. Then we found out a woman named Bulma Briefs was looking for a cure so... we came to see how its coming along." Tender Heart explained.

"Well, come on, I'll take you to her." Goku offered but was stopped when Vegeta raised his hand as a signal to halt. "No you won't Kakarott. Shes supposed to be fixing my gravity simulator, not playing petting zoo."

"I'm SUPPOSED to be doing whatever I think is important." Bulma suddenly called from the back door. Apparently she'd caught on they had visitors and wanted to have a look for herself.

"Bulma, this is Tender Heart Lion and Brave Heart Bear." Goku introduced, inciting a mocking snort from Vegeta before he turned around and left.

"Eh...other way around huh?" he asked sheepishly.

"So what brings you two here? And what ARE you two anyway?" Bulma asked.

After a quick explanation of where they're from, the two Care Bears filled her in on why they're here.

"Well, I don't want to ruin your trip but I don't really have much to tell you. Some health officials asked me to help find a cure but to be honest, we haven't really got far. We still don't even know the cause yet." Bulma admitted.

"How many here are sick?" Brave Heart asked. "Well in THIS city not many, thankfully. The ones that are are in an isolated wing. The staff has to look in on them almost non-stop and that's easier to do if all of them are in one place." Bulma answered.

"Can we go see them?" Brave Heart asked.

"Like...now?" Goku asked. The two of them nodded, "If possible. I know its sudden but we have to hurry if we're going to beat this anytime soon."

Bulma excused herself to place a call to the hospitals director. A couple of minutes later they had his approval and Goku volunteered to get cleaned up a little and take them using Nimbus.

A short time later. the Care Bears and Goku were walking down the isolated hospital wing in numb silence. Although a hospital isn't really thought of as a fun place to be, most of the time there's still laughter and happy people to be found whether its nurses joking with patients or vice-versa or people happy to be going home or happy an operation went well.

But not in this wing. No laughing, no smiling, just cold silence mixed with the electronic beeping of life support systems. If the presence of two small animals and a tall man in an orange training gi caused any alarm, nobody showed it. Anytime Goku or the Care Bears tried talking to the staff they were either ignored outright or told politely they were too busy to talk.

It was like everyone had retreated into themselves emotionally, and seeing this Tender Heart fully realized how correct Friend Bear was when she said one sick person could kill the hopes of many.

Despite living a short distance from the hospital (and having heard all about SAS), Goku was stunned to see it in person. His carefree attitude had taken a nosedive and was replaced with a kind of solemn sadness as he wondered what must be going through the minds of these peoples family and friends.

As if on cue, a loud beeping then low-toned flat-line came from few rooms down. Normally in the movies this is where the entire staff comes together to save the person at the last second possible. In the movies the person is revived to the smiles and cheers of the family and the medical staff. In the movies the impossible becomes possible and miracles happen.

But this wasn't the movies, and there were no miracles to be had.

One of the nurses got up and walked towards the patients room in the same casualness one would use if going to look in the fridge. She walked in and the tone stopped only to be replaced by the loud crying of the female visitor in the room as the nurse informed her that her husband was gone and there was nothing more that could be done. The nurse then came back to the station, crossed off the room number, and went back to her computer.

Over the years the Care Bears had seen many people die from their viewpoint in the clouds. Seeing it a few feet away, however, proved to be more difficult. Tender Heart sat slumped against the wall, his head in his paws. Brave Heart put a paw on his shoulder reassuringly, telling him that its a long way from over and that he shouldn't lose hope.

Goku's head suddenly snapped up as if he had just heard something. The orange-clad Saiyan strained his ears with clear confusion on his face. "What is it Goku?" Tender Heart asked as he was getting to his feet.

"I'm not sure... it sounds...odd.." he replied. A few seconds later part of the ceiling just a few feet away collapsed. The Care Bears jumped back in shock and seconds later another section collapsed, this time on top of one of the nurses. Tender Heart started to run to her but Brave Heart grabbed his arm and pulled him back, saving him from the same fate as another section collapsed right where he would have been standing.

By now the isolated wing was in a panic as nurses and staff ran wildly to escape the multiple cave-ins. "Run Care Bears!" Goku yelled. He didn't have to tell them twice. Both of them bolted desperately towards the exit, clearing the double-glass doors mere moments before the rest of the ceiling collapsed.

Out of breath from exertion, it took them a few seconds to realize that Goku didn't make it out before the cave-in. They looked at each other and shared the same panicked expression.

"Did he...did he make it out in time?" Tender Heart asked fearfully.

"Yeah, but some weren't as lucky." came Gokus voice from behind them.

Once he realized that the ceiling was like-it-or-not going to collapse, a combination of his Saiyan physiology and Instant Transmission allowed him to save a few of the closest people. Though his heart was overjoyed for the ones that made it, it was also heavy for the ones who didn't.

Four saved versus...who knows how many less fortunate. Whatever the death and injury toll was, Goku was willing to bet the numbers were going to be rather one-sided.

Brave Heart looked at Tender Heart with an astonished expression, but decided to shelve the questions for now. There were bigger issues and questions more important than asking how he managed to save 4 people and still escape a collapsing building that they were almost certain he didn't make it out of.

A couple of minutes later the first sirens were heard as first responders converged on the scene. A rescue helicopter was called in to hover overhead with its search light in an effort to speed up the rescue of how ever many survivors they could find. Watching from the hospital parking lot, Goku could only sigh sadly at what had happened. Probing the wreckage with his ki, he knew that the vast majority of people still inside were dead and that the ones that miraculously survived the cave-in were likely to join them shortly.

Still, he kept this to himself. People need hope at times like this and Goku wasn't going to take it from them. He thought about all the people who would undoubtedly be devastated when they got the news. He thought back to the crying he heard earlier when a patient flat-lined, and about how most likely that woman's family had more than one person to plan a funeral for now.

"Goku?" Bulmas voice said from his side. He didn't even notice her walking up to him until she was right next to him. "I got a call telling me what happened but...I thought it'd be best if I came and saw it for myself." she continued quietly.

"All those people...its just... unfair.." Goku said with a sigh. Bulma forced a smile, putting her arm around his back, "Its not your fault you know...You did everything you possibly could to help, and you saved four people that would have almost certainly died if you hadn't been there."

"Yeah.. I guess you're right." he said bitterly. Hearing approaching footsteps, he turned to see the Care Bears coming up to him. "You two ok?" Bulma asked.

"Yes, thanks to Goku." Tender Heart answered, "We need to get back to Care-A-Lot as soon as possible but I think we're a little stranded since our cloud car kinda blew up on us ".

"Blew up? How did that happen?" Bulma asked. "We're not sure, we think it was because that weird thing that kinda looked like a shooting star hit it." Tender Heart replied.

Despite being known for catching on slowly, Goku immediately figured out that the 'weird shooting star' was the stray blast Vegeta fired after Goku laughed at him. But at the moment, he decided it was probably best to keep quiet about it.

"How about this: come back to Capsule Corp with us for the night and tomorrow we'll figure out a way for you to get home. Sound good?" Bulma offered.

After accepting Bulmas offer, agreements were made that Goku would use Instant Transmission to bring him and the Care Bears back to Capsule Corp while Bulma would fly back in her copter. Brave Heart and Tender Heart held onto Goku as instructed and he brought his fingers to his forehead.

All of a sudden, Goku felt a presence unlike anything he'd ever encountered in his entire life. It felt very cold and, for lack of a better word, hollow. If he had to describe it, Goku would have called it "frozen and devoid of emotion or life". But as quick as it appeared, it vanished just as quickly.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Goku dismissed it as just a result of being too tired physically, emotionally, or both. After they teleported away, unknown to Goku or Bulma or anyone else, something else that had been watching decided to visit Capsule Corp also.

An hour later, Brave and Tender Heart were joined by Goku, Bulma, Chi-Chi, Goten, and Trunks in one of the more spacious lounges in the Capsule Corp building. Having heard Goku talk about them more than once in the past, Chi-Chi had a special interest in meeting their unusual visitors.

Sitting on couches and chairs, the group took turns telling stories about their respective lives. The Care Bears talked about being raised in Care-A-Lot by Noble and True Heart, Goku talked about being a Saiyan who landed on Earth, Bulma and Chi-Chi talked about the many adventures they had when they were younger, and the kids talked about how they impersonated a little-known fighter named Mighty Mask at the last World Martial Arts Tournament.

Gohan, being a typical high-schooler, was off with his girlfriend instead of at home.

Vegeta, being a typical arrogant prick, had no desire to socialize and instead was raiding the fridge of everything inside.

Goten and Trunks, being typical kids, quickly got bored with sitting in the lounge telling and listening to others stories and decided that a little nighttime skateboarding would be much more interesting.

For Trunk's 9th birthday, Bulma had a small section of the backyard walled off and turned into a skate park. It was a simple design; a few elevated areas, a couple of ramps and rails, and a half-pipe, but Trunks absolutely loved it even though it was smaller than the parks owned by the city.

"Come on Trunks, let me have a turn now." complained Goten from the sidelines. "Just a second ok? I'm gonna try and land that grind I've been working on." he replied. Going down the half-pipe to build momentum, he waited until he felt he was at the right speed before launching himself into the air and landing perfectly on the rail.

'Oh yeah! Who's the man? I'm the man!' he thought, doing a mental victory dance. It was cut short however when he was forcefully shoved off the rail, landing face first on the concrete.

"Oowww..." he groaned in pain as he got to his feet, "Goten you jerk why'd you go and do..."

To his surprise, Goten was still sitting on the sidelines where he'd been before his failed skateboard trick.

"Are you ok Trunks? That looked like it hurt a lot." he asked.

'Ok wait a minute...if he didn't push me off the rail, then what happened?' he thought in confusion. Before he could give it any more thought, he felt himself falling flat on his back as if someone yanked his feet out from under him.

Goten got up to run over and help his friend. Before he'd taken even 3 steps, something grabbed the back of his collar and forcefully slung him backwards against the wall. He cried out in pain and fell to the ground. Rubbing the back of his head, his hand came back blood stained from a gash caused by the impact.

"Goten!" Trunks yelled as he scrambled to his feet. "Whats going on Trunks?!" Goten yelled in a panic.

"I don't know but come on!" he replied, grabbing Gotens hand and hauling him to his feet.

"Leaving already?" said a voice behind the two half-Saiyans. Although they had no way of knowing, the empty coldness they were feeling now was the same that Goku felt earlier after the accident at the hospital. Both boys turned around and stared in shock as what looked like floating red eyes appeared, followed by a body that could only be described as a living, moving shadow.

"My...what rude little children." the shadow said in a mocking tone. The creatures voice almost sounded like it was inside their heads instead of spoken out-loud. For all the boys knew, it could have been both.

Giving an angry yell, Trunks piston'ed his fist out in an attempt to attack their unexpected enemy. To his and Gotens shock, his fist went right though his target without even touching it. The creatures eyes flashed brighter for a moment and, as if attacked by an invisible hand, Trunks was literally slapped to the ground. Seconds later, Goten suffered one of the hardest blows he'd ever felt and joined his friend down on the concrete.

Trunks got to his feet first, shaking his head to clear his mind and restore his focus. By now, Goten had pulled himself up to a sitting position and was reaching out for Trunks hand. The moment their hands touched, the shadow materialized behind them. Half-dragging his younger friend, Trunks gripped Gotens wrist tightly and sped back through the same door they used to get outside. Too panicked to even bother opening it, the two half-Saiyans went right through it instead.

Despite not having Saiyan hearing, the crash was loud enough to catch the attention of everyone in the lounge, humans and Care Bears included. Feeling the spike in their sons ki's, Goku stepped out of the lounge just as Vegeta rounded the corner from the kitchen.

"What the hell are you little brats..." Vegeta began in irritation that quickly turned into shock after noticing his and Goku's sons were both bloody and terrified.

"Goten whats wrong son?" Goku asked, leaning down so he was more on the boys level. Visibly shaking, Goten recounted how him and Trunks were skateboarding when Trunks suddenly wiped out, then got attacked by an invisible enemy who then took the form of a living shadow with red eyes.

Vegeta looked at Trunks expectedly and the boy confirmed his friends story, showing his father the rapidly-forming bruise on his face where he'd been violently struck by the creature. Bulma and Chi-Chi, hearing their sons panicked voices, stepped out of the lounge into the hallway with their husbands.

"Are you two ok?" Chi-Chi asked with a worried expression as she and Bulma hurried to their children. "They're fine, you can go back to your freak show now." Vegeta answered rudely before turning to his son, telling him in simple terms that if this turned out to be one of their little pranks he'd have a lot worse things to fear than a red-eyed shadow.

Without a word, Vegeta turned and proceeded down the hallway and through the broken-down door the kids used to get inside. Goku just sighed, giving both boys a reassuring smile. Children in tow, Goku followed Vegeta outside to the skate park in Capsule Corps back yard.

Taking their time, the two Saiyans combed the backyard and the skating area in search of the "ghost" that attacked their children. A few minutes later, Vegeta turned to Trunks and Goten with an irritated glare.

"Didn't I tell you two brats this better not be a prank?" he asked in annoyance.

"But Vegeta look, there's blood splotches all over the place." Goku retorted as he showed the angry prince the blood spots on the ground and wall.

"How do we know thats not there because our kids are clumsy?" Vegeta challenged. Goku suddenly turned, looking around in confusion as the same cold, empty presence he felt earlier came back.

"Vegeta..."

"Don't bother Kakarott, I feel it too".

With their senses now on alert, the two Saiyans probed the area with their ki, trying to pinpoint the location of the strange presence. Just like earlier, it vanished entirely an instant later like it had never been there.

"Whatever it was it's gone now, so I'm going back inside." Vegeta grumbled as he turned to make his way back to the building, "I've got half a mind to make those little runts fix the door themselves".

"Dad look out!" Trunks yelled behind him. Vegeta turned around just in time to see floating red eyes right behind him. Seconds later he yelled in pain as several cuts suddenly appeared on his arm, chest, and shoulder, almost as if he'd been slashed with an invisible claw.

"What the?!" he bellowed. Moments later, the rest of the creature materialized into the living shadow the boys had seen earlier.

"So careless..." the shadow mocked. Before his eyes, Vegeta saw the shadow seem to condense until it took the form of a man. Easily over 6 feet, the man was hairless and grey skinned with what looked like pure black orbs for eyes. It was toned and somewhat muscular despite being very thin and though it wore no clothes (that Vegeta could see at least) it appeared more gender-less than nude.

Goku fazed out and re-appeared by Vegetas side. "Are you ok?" he asked without taking his eyes off the creature.

Now that his attacker was in physical form, Vegeta got his first look at what he'd be hit with. Although weapons made of ki were uncommon, he'd seen plenty of them while growing up under Frieza. Malices reminded him of a movie he'd seen about mutant humans that featured a character with retractable claws. Add a hilt. another foot or so in length, and an ominous red glow and one would have a close approximate to the weapons design.

Gripping his bleeding arm protectively, he answered the taller Saiyan without looking away from his attacker, "I'm fine Kakarott, I don't need your help so don't meddle in my affairs." he ground out angrily. "Vegeta we don't know what this thing is! Come on, let me help you!" Goku implored.

"I...said...NOOO!" Vegeta roared in response as his hair and aura exploded into the bright gold of SSJ. The tremor produced by his immense power rattled every window on the block. If Bulma and the others weren't alarmed before, they certainly were now as they abandoned the lounge and made a mad dash for the backdoor.

Vegeta charged the creature headlong, slamming his fist directly into its face. It grunted loudly as the force of the blow threw him backwards, only to have Vegeta blur into existence behind him and axe-kick him to the ground. Less than a second later, Vegeta grabbed the grey man by the arm and flung him straight into the air.

Aiming his arms into the air, his hands glowed brightly for a moment and he released a blindingly bright yellow ki blast that detonated the moment it stuck his enemy. Bulma, Chi-Chi, and Brave and Tender Heart were knocked off their feet entirely while everyone else was left standing but squinting against the blinding flash of light, trying to determine whether Vegetas blast had worked or not.

Vegeta kept his hands at the ready in case he needed to fire again. Goku and the boys probed and glanced everywhere but could find no trace of the shadowy creature. After about a minute had gone by, Vegeta relaxed out of his SSJ state, his trademark smirk now back on his face.

"I told you I didn't need your help." he told Goku arrogantly.

"Come on, I''ll see if I can go get you a Senzu Bean." Goku offered but was waved away.

"No need Kakarott, these wounds are superficial at best. The Prince of all Saiyans would never lose his life to such petty childish tricks, its an insult that -AAARRRGGHHHH!" he suddenly screamed as out of nowhere what appeared to be a red bolt of lightning hit him from above. Milli-seconds later Goku, Goten, and Trunks all suffered the same fate, their howls of agony mixing with Vegetas.

A few feet above the ground, the shadow reformed and materialized back into the figure they'd seen moments ago. "Disappointing..." it taunted,shaking its head back and forth. Vegeta ground his teeth together, reaching his hand up at the figure in a slow and painful attempt to grab hold of its leg.

"I..am going...to... destroy you..for ..this.." Vegeta growled in pain. The figure just smiled sadistically in response. "Somehow... I think not. I am, however, a little surprised you still draw breath. Must be your Saiyan body that allowed you to survive...however..." the shadow said then paused.

Seeing Bulma and Chi-Chi still lying prone in the doorway, the creature smiled and raised a hand towards them. Moments later, it began to crackle with red electricity.

"I think it will be quite different for those two"... he said with a cold smile. "No! You can't -GGGGHHHH!" Goku cried out-loud as he was suddenly shocked again with red lightning. No matter how hard he, Vegeta, or the boys tried to stand, the agony was simply overwhelming and they were forced back to the ground.

"Oh by the way, just so you know..." the creature raised its black eyes to stare at Bulma directly, "Sopor Aeternus...is my creation...my way of restoring humanity to its true purpose."

Bulma gasped in fear, paralyzed on the spot, "No...it can't... there's no...you COULDN'T have..."

Chi-Chi wanted desperately to get out of the way, but shock and fear was over-rode her brains command to her body to get her ass up and run for it.

"Good-bye..." the creature called out before his red electric aura flared and he fired on the two helpless women who didn't even get time to scream.

There was a blinding flash of light, followed by a strangely warm, peaceful sensation. Bulma squeezed her eyes shut, 100% convinced she was dying for the second time.

Except...

'Wait a second...this isn't what death feels like.' she realized suddenly. Opening her eyes a crack, she could see Chi-Chi shielding her eyes from the incredibly bright light surrounding them. She glanced upward and to her amazement saw two breathtakingly beautiful beams of light shining on the shadow.

'That's... is that coming from those two!?' she wondered in her mind. A few seconds later the creature de-materialized out of sight and the light beams faded away.

She heard groans in front of her and looked up. Trunks was helping Goten to his feet at the same time Goku was helping Vegeta to his. Feeling a tap on her shoulder, she looked up to see Brave Heart holding a paw out to help her up, and Tender Heart doing the same to Chi-Chi.

Though normally he'd never in a million years say it in front of someone, Trunks sprinted forward and grabbed Bulma in a half-hug/half-tackle, telling her how much he loved her and how scared he was he was about to lose her. Still a little embarrassing but since Goten was doing the same thing but making an even bigger fool out of himself than he was, he figured he broke even, if not came out a little ahead.

As soon as Goten let go, Chi-Chi ran to her husband in the same hug/tackle way her son did. Goten joined his mother, knocking Goku off his feet and into a sort of semi-sitting, semi-lying position.

When Trunks and Bulma started to run to embrace Vegeta, he held up a hand to stop them.

"Don't even think about it." he warned, still greatly un-comfortable with public displays of affection. After Majin Buu's defeat, Vegeta began making slow but gradual progress towards being more affectionate with his family. Much to Bulmas irritation, however, it was always private. He still avoided doing it publically if there was any possible way to get out of it.

He held that tough-guy facade for all of five seconds before sighing in defeat.

"Fine..." he conceded and was immediately tackled by his wife and son.

To Vegetas credit, he tolerated their little group hug longer than the 3 seconds Bulma was expecting.

Later that night after Trunks and Goten were asleep, Goku and Chi-Chi (who had been invited by Bulma to stay the night), Bulma herself, and Tender Heart and Brave Heart found themselves again in the same lounge they had used just a little while earlier. Of course, the mood wasn't quite as cheery this time.

"What WAS that thing?" Chi-Chi asked. The Care Bears had no idea, and neither Goku or Bulma could offer anything either.

"It said, "Sopor Aeternus is my creation"... does that mean the creature we saw is the cause of the disease? And did it actually create it, or is it just spreading it?" Bulma mused out-loud.

"That reminds me..." Chi-Chi began, "I'm not sure how you two managed to do it, but thank you for saving us earlier".

Goku looked down at Chi-Chi's words with a sad sigh, and it didn't exactly take a psychic to know what he was feeling. "Goku, no one would ever even consider blaming you, or Trunks, Goten, or Vegeta for that matter." Bulma told him gently.

"I've never felt so ashamed or useless in my entire life." he replied. Chi-Chi put her hand over his with a reassuring smile, "Shes right you know."

"Vegeta, Nappa, Raditz, The Ginyu Force, Frieza, Cell, Majin Buu...I've had no problem fighting any of them and more importantly, I've always been ABLE to fight them. But tonight...my whole family was in danger and I couldn't even get off the ground, much less rescue them." he replied sadly. "If you two hadn't showed up...I dont even want to know how it would have ended".

"The important thing is you are all safe." Tender Heart assured him.

"The important thing is that we destroy that freak." said a familiar Saiyans voice from the doorway.

Bulma started to get up but Vegeta waved his hand dismissively. "You alright?" Goku asked.

"I'm fine Kakarott." Vegeta answered shortly. But, Goku knew better. He may not be blowing things up in a fit of rage, but it was obvious that his Saiyan rival was not even close to "fine". His son and wife were both attacked and he himself suffered lacerations from some kind of bladed/clawed instrument plus burns where the creatures electric blast hit him.

Knowing Vegeta like he did, Goku was well aware that any damage to his body was greatly overshadowed by the damage to his pride.

To tell the truth, Goku was actually pretty impressed the Prince HADN'T blown something up by now.

"You, bear.." Vegeta said, coming over to Tender Heart, "What sort of power was that?"

"It's not really power, its called a Stare and is projected through our tummy symbols." Tender Heart explained pointing out the heart on his belly. "I guess the easiest way to explain it is its the love and caring in our hearts."

"So its love and emotion, concentrated as a beam of energy?" Bulma asked, receiving an affirmative nod from Tender Heart.

"What absurd nonsense." Vegeta muttered, crossing his arms, "Love and emotion didn't stop Frieza, Cell, or Buu...and it certainly isn't going to stop that thing."

"It just did, remember? Not every battle has to be won with violence." Bulma offered.

Vegeta snorted in irritation, "Is that so? Well then tell me this then; when was the last time any danger to the Earth was defeated WITHOUT violence?"

Looking around, he waited several seconds before giving the group his trademark smirk, "I thought so. That creature isn't gone for good, that I can promise."

Deciding to turn in for the night, the Prince turned to leave but stopped when his wife called his name.

"I'm taking Tender and Brave Heart home tomorrow. I know the answers probably 'no', but would you like to come with us?" Bulma suddenly called out. He turned around with a sarcastic look on his face, "Oh yes. I'd love to waste valuable training time and instead spend it with you on an airborne circus side-show." he replied as he was leaving.

Bulma just sighed, eliciting sympathetic looks from Goku and Chi-Chi.

"Is he always like this?" Brave Heart asked.

"You have no idea.." Bulma replied.

"I know hes hard to get along with, but right now Vegetas suffering, even if he won't admit it. Not in body, but in his pride. Look at it like this: He lost a fight to an enemy he has never seen before hat no one even knows who or what it is. Even worse, it was in front of his own family. He could easily be out there blowing things up in a rage but instead he's trying to control himself. Please try and overlook him." Goku said gently to Bulma, who just nodded.

"Ok so...how are you two getting them home?" Chi-Chi asked in an effort to lighten the mood and change the subject. After talking it over for a while, the group decided that tomorrow morning Bulma would fly the Care Bears back to Care-A-Lot in her Capsule Copter. Goku, always up for new adventures, easily agreed to Bulmas request to accompany her.

The next morning, the blue-haired scientist found out that the shadow wasn't the only unexpected night-time visitor Capsule Corp had gotten.


	2. Fear Becomes Physical

Chapter two: Fear Becomes Physical

"You're doing what?" Bulma asked in surprise. In his usual training outfit of black exercise pants and matching black tank-top, Vegeta sat across from her at breakfast the next day half-way through his 14th waffle. Goku, to his annoyance, was sitting next to him, going through waffles like he'd been starved for a week.

"I said I'm going with you." he repeated himself after swallowing.

"SPeehh, I tufff yu guhs he wassnt soff bad!" Goku declared though a huge mouthful of food. Vegeta cringed, sliding his chair away from the other Saiyan. "You're disgusting Kakarott, you know that?" Vegeta criticized. Goku made a small whine, turning to look at Vegeta with a frown, "Nhh imh nohht! I jhus lovhh waffulhs!". As he protested, a glob of waffle mixed with syrup and Goku-saliva shot out of his half-open mouth and landed right on Vegetas cheek.

That did it. With a loud angry growl Vegeta pulled back and slammed his fist right into Goku's face. The impact threw him out of his chair and to the floor where momentum caused him to slide a few feet before crashing against the wall. Yelling some choice words that no doubt the Care Bears don't normally hear, he stalked out of the room and slammed the door. Brave and Tender Heart jumped up to go help Goku to his feet.

"Whuss iht sumfing I shaid?" Goku asked in confusion, spraying more bits of food around. Chi-Chi just sighed and face palmed while Bulma went to get the Copter ready.

Riding shotgun, Vegeta crossed his arms and stared out the window. 'Goku's right, he really IS torn up about this..' Bulma thought, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. Goku seemed pretty lost in conversation with their new friends, so Bulma took this opportunity to talk to Vegeta about his sudden change of heart.

"Hey Vegeta? I want to know something." she started.

"If you're going to ask why I punched that ass-hat Kakarott don't bother, even you could figure it out." he answered without looking at her. Bulma narrowed her eyes in irritation, but before she could say anything she caught sight of a slight smirk on Vegetas face and immediately calmed down. He didn't do much teasing or joking and she wasn't going to knock it when he did.

"Why did you change your mind about coming?" she asked. Vegeta just stared out the window for a moment before sighing and relating the events that prompted his change of heart.

...

2:08 ... 2:14 ... 2:22 ... 2:34 ... 2:40 ... 2:51 ... 3:02 ... 3:13 ... 3:27

Sighing in irritation at his inability to sleep, Vegeta got up and decided maybe something quick to eat would help.

He made his way down the stairs to the kitchen without a sound and in near total darkness. Opening the fridge, Vegeta scowled in irritation upon discovering that all that remained inside was a two liter jug of juice (with one swallow left), a large sushi platter (with no sushi), a large slice of watermelon (eaten down to the rind), and a near-empty jar of mayo with a spoon sticking out of it.

"God dammit Kakarott..."he muttered quietly and turned to go back to bed empty handed. Despite the fact that his relationship with the taller Saiyan had evolved enough that they could loosely consider themselves semi-friends, he wasn't thrilled with the idea of him coming over so much. Not because of lingering resentment or contempt, but because his normally well-stocked fridge and pantry was usually left as barren as a wasteland by the time Goku left.

The only solace the Prince had was that around 6 am every morning a delivery truck from one of the grocery wholesale warehouses would arrive to restock Capsule Corps food inventory. Whether Goku had caught on to that yet or not he wasn't sure, but he sure as hell wasn't going to volunteer such information.

His foot had just touched the bottom stair when he detected a quiet tapping noise coming from down the hall. After a few seconds he realized it was coming from the guest room where the bonsai bear and lion were staying. He crept closer to the door and the tapping stopped, replaced by the sound of a window sliding open, then hushed voices.

"Brave Heart wake up." Tender Heart whispered prodding him with a paw.

"Hmmmff.. fllgg...snnn... charrgee... snnnn" the lion snored before a hard nudge restored him to consciousness.

"Whhattt is it..?" he asked sleepily.

"We just got a Star Buddy from the others. Apparently they got one from Noble Heart a little while ago."

That got his attention. Brave Heart rubbed his eyes vigorously and sat part of the way up. "What'd he say?"

"He and True Heart know who attacked us."

Just outside their room, Vegetas expression changed into the kind of triumphant smirk he had worn right after saving Goku from Android 19 all those years ago.

Tender Heart leaned closer while the Star Buddy relayed the information from the others to him, then closed the window after it had left.

"So, anything interesting?" came a voice from the darkness.

Both Care Bears jumped in fright. "Mr. Briefs! I didn't know you were there!" Tender Heart said in surprise.

"Mister...Briefs?" Vegeta repeated slightly annoyed, "Vegeta."

"All right then, Vegeta, I didn't know you were there."

"What was that creature just now?" he asked. Brave Heart explained that the purpose of 'Star and Heart Buddies' was to carry messages between Care-A-Lot and Earth, the Forest of Feelings and Earth, or Care-A-Lot and Forest of Feelings.

"Fascinating... Don't bullshit me bear, what did it say?" Vegeta asked. The Care Bears looked at each other uneasily for a moment before telling Vegeta what he wanted to know.

...

Bulmas eyes widened a little, "Wow, so they already know what that shadow was? This is great! Now we'll know who we're dealing with." Vegeta just scoffed, "I trust now you figured out why I agreed to come along?"

"Well it'd have been nicer if it was to ensure the safety of your beautiful wife, but I guess this reason works too." she replied as a tease.

"Why would I do that? You have life insurance and I'm the beneficiary." he answered with a smirk.

The moment Bulmas copter landed in Care-A-Lot, it was surrounded by the oddest assortment of creatures Vegeta had ever seen. Most looked like small bears of varying color but he could make out a cat, a dog, a penguin, an elephant, a rabbit, and what looked like a small monkey.

"Oh wow, look at how beautiful this place is!" Bulma gushed. Vegeta muttered something under his breath. Bulma didn't catch all of it but the little she did, "LSD-inspired petting zoo." gave her the impression it wasn't very polite.

After a joyful reunion with Tender and Brave Heart, the rest of the care bear family came up to welcome their new visitors. Predictably, Vegeta didn't want to shake hands or be hugged (or even touched for that matter) but thankfully no one pressed the issue and instead they gave him his space. Tender Heart went ahead with Brave Heart to prepare for the conference while the rest of the family gave their visitors a quick tour.

Once done, they hurried back to the Hall of Hearts. Bulma and Goku took the empty seats next to Birthday Bear, while Vegeta opted to stand near the back wall rather than sit among them. After the meeting was called to order, Tender Heart opened with a public thank you for the hospitality he and Brave Heart Lion had at the Briefs household, taking a moment to introduce Bulma, Goku, and Vegeta. When the 'thank you's and applause stopped, he called on Bulma to give a better picture of whats going on on Earth. A little nervous but long used to making speeches, Bulma took the podium.

"Late yesterday afternoon, West City Memorial Hospital suffered some kind of structural accident in the isolation wing that was housing the hospitals Sopor Aeternus victims." she began. Immediately afterwards, she started getting questions from those present.

"What caused the accident?" asked Bright Heart Raccoon.

"We still don't know, but police are conducting an investigation."

"How many survived the accident?" Friend Bear asked.

Bulma looked at Goku and sighed, knowing this is what he was dreading having to hear. "There were 116 patients, staff, and visitors total in the wing. Goku saved four of them before the cave-in but... the other 112 all perished."

The conference room was stunned into silence. For a few moments no one said anything, then thankfully Birthday Bear broke the silence by asking if Capsule Corp had located the origin of SA yet. Goku stood up at this point to announce that the creature that attacked them last night claimed that HE was responsible for the disease.

After the whispers died down (and Goku had received a "Don't even think about it" glare from Vegeta when he tried to have him recount the events of last night), he went on to explain that a new enemy had appeared and attacked them at Capsule Corps headquarters. Taking the form of some kind of ghost-like shadow at first, the entity had physically harmed their sons, then transformed into what looked like a grey-skinned hairless human before attacking Vegeta, then the rest of them, then finally Bulma and Chi-Chi.

Bulma was relieved beyond words when instead of saying they were all rendered helpless, Goku instead said that their enemy attacked by surprise and was repelled by Tender and Brave Heart. Bulma believed, with good reason, that revealing Vegetas helplessness during the fight would undoubtedly make him even more emotionally volatile than normal.

After he was finished, Tender Heart turned the floor over to Wish Bear with the request that she reveal what the Heart Buddy had informed her about their mysterious new foe.

This was what Vegeta had been waiting on, and now gave his full attention to the conference.

Wish Bear set her Heart Buddy on the podium and took her seat the while Grumpy Bear dimmed the lights. The Heart Buddy began to glow softly and its memories, almost as if through hologram projection, appeared at the front of the hall.

The holograms took the form of what looked like some kind of ancient battle. Some warriors were on horseback, others not. Some had armor, some just clothing. With weapons ranging from high-quality swords to sticks and clubs, hundreds clashed in combat on what looked like a vast open field. The scene blurred and changed to what looked like a typical medieval fight scene, then to a vision of unarmed villagers being killed and their houses burned.

Understandably, some of the Care Bears looked horrified, while others just looked saddened as if they'd seen this all repeatedly in the past. The scene changed to an Asian warlord Bulma recognized as Genghis Khan. To her shock, the hologram showed what was unmistakably the shadow whispering into his ear.

Some of the scenes from earlier replayed but this time they could see the shadow conversing with the kings and generals and emperors of the armies. The hologram changed to a more recent scene, showing Adolf Hitler on a stage giving a speech to thousands of cheering admirers, then the image blurred and suddenly Der Fuhrer had his head turned, listening as red eyes spoke directly into his ear.

Vegeta and Goku were equally stunned and confused, but it was obvious from her expression Bulma was beginning to realize what they were looking at.

The hologram blurred again and the image of Noble Heart Horse appeared in the foreground. "He is called by many names; The Shadow, The Darkness. The Void, The Evil In Hearts, Creature, but is most widely known as simply... "Malice."

"He is the cruelty in the hearts of people. Their hate, their desire to control others, their need to exterminate those found offensive or unwanted, their greed and lust for power at any cost. Malice is the evil in human hearts given form, born from the atrocities than man inflicts upon man."

The hologram changed again, showing the shadow as he first appeared, then as the humanoid form Vegeta had fought. "We don't know what the extent of his power is, only that he will not hesitate to use any and all abilities at his disposal in his campaign to destroy humanity." Noble Hearts voice continued.

Bulmas eyes widened and suddenly her mind flashed back to the previous night. She remembered being face down on the ground while her friends and family were paralyzed and powerless.

 _"Sopor Aeternus...is my creation...my way of restoring humanity to its true purpose."_ Malice had told her.

'So THAT's what he meant...' Bulma thought, 'He wants a world where humans are openly evil, emotionless, and cold...and wants to use his disease to achieve it.'

The only problem with Bulmas theory was, how the hell was SA going to help him succeed?

She glanced back at Vegeta who, as one might have guessed, was looking more and more pissed off by the minute. She didn't know why, but was willing to bet it was a combination of the humiliation he suffered last night, and the complexity of their new enemy. Frieza, Cell, Buu, and other past threats were simple by comparison because they were an established type of being such as Iceling or Android. Basically, physical flesh and blood created by common means.

Malice, though possessing a physical form, was (for lack of a better phrase) created by emotions and evil acts themselves. Obviously, this was not the sort of enemy the Prince had grown up fighting.

The hologram blurred and changed again, this time to what looked like video shot from a helicopter. The scene was like something out of a doomsday movie; Cities reduced to rubble, entire forests devoid of trees and animal life, entire lakes dried up, no grass or plant life, and worst of all, no people.

"What you're looking at is the future." Noble Hearts voice continued, "Unless he is stopped, he will eventually achieve his goal and any trace of humanity or peace or love and caring on Earth will be lost for all time. After that, he will spread beyond this universe and goodness and purity will cease to exist anywhere."

The image changed back to Malice in human form as Noble Heart continued, "True Heart and I are going to see the Great Wishing Star for help. We're putting our trust and hope in all of you. Good luck Care Bears, Care Bear Cousins, and visitors from Earth."

Grumpy turned the lights back up as Wish walked to the podium to get her Heart Buddy. It flew into her hand and the glow faded away.

But to her confusion, the hologram of Malice remained. Seconds later, confusion turned to horror when it turned to look at her with his black pits for eyes.

"Wish Bear run!" Cheer Bear yelled in alarm. Before she could even blink, Malice slashed her with his energy weapon, dropping her with one blow.

Looking down at her, Malice just smiled as she began bleeding heavily from the long gashes his claw had inflicted, "Too slow Care Bear."

Holding his hand out, Malice unleashed a wave of red electricity, causing those in the Hall of Hearts to scatter for cover. Vegeta materialized behind Bulma, snatching her out of the path of the bolt nanoseconds before it hit. Putting himself in front of both of them, Goku threw up a ki shield to deflect the red lightning as much as possible. Seeing Wish lying bleeding on the floor, Goku turned to look at Bulma, struggling to keep the shield from breaking.

"Bulma listen very carefully. I'm going to teleport you and Wish Bear to Capsule Corp, then I'm coming back here to help fight. Take care of Wish, ok? Shes hurt pretty bad." Goku asked. Bulma nodded, "I'm on it." Taking her phone out, she called Capsule Corp to request that one of the emergency Senzu Beans be retrieved, with a medical team standing by just in case. Now all she could do was take cover and wait for an opportunity.

She didn't need to wait long. The second he stopped firing, Bulma heard Tender Heart yell, "Care Bears Stare!" followed immediately after by Brave Heart yelling "Care Cousins Call!" The entire Hall was engulfed in a white flash as numerous beams of light were fired at Malice. He turned his head to shield his eyes and was forced a few steps back.

"Nows your chance Kakarott!" Vegeta yelled while going SSJ. Goku fazed out to grab Wish Bear, then reappeared in front of Bulma. Grabbing her hand, he concentrated a moment and teleported to the Capsule Corp lobby where the medical team was waiting . "Bulma shes losing a lot of blood!" Goku told her as he laid her down on the stretcher. Seconds later, one of her employees rounded the corner with the Senzu she'd called for.

"Goku here, give her this." she instructed as she handed it over. "Wish Bear stay with us ok? I need you to eat this." she instructed. The Care Bear weakly took the bean from him and popped it in her mouth. As she chewed, Bulma lifted her upper body off the stretcher as a precaution against the possibility of her choking.

She swallowed and Bulma eased her back down. Goku watched for any signs that it was working but after nearly a full minute had passed he just shook his head. "It looks like they won't work on Care Bears."

Hearing that, the medics took charge immediately, trying their best to treat her as if she were human. "Double-time it guys or we'll lose her!" Bulma yelled at the team. Running as fast as they safely could, the medics raced down the hall towards Capsule Corps medical wing.

Putting his fingers to his forehead, the two old friends exchanged "Good luck"s before Goku teleported back to Care-A-Lot.

When he arrived, Goku saw pretty much what he expected: Care Bears scattered and running, a lot of structure damage and Vegeta fighting Malice. Going SSJ in mid-flight, he raced to where Vegeta was, hoping they had better luck this time than they did last night.

Punching Malice directly in the face, Vegeta blurred behind him to attack with a vicious side-kick but hit nothing as the shadow, apparently having the same idea, blurred away and reappeared behind him. Vegeta grunted loudly in pain as the kick connected with his back, causing him to stagger slightly.

The Prince barely dodged an electric blast, returning fire with a ki blast that, to his irritation, Malice dodged easily. He didn't get to gloat about it for long however. At that moment Goku landed a roundhouse from behind, catching his enemy squarely in the left side of its head. He flew back and crashed through the wall of what appeared to be some kind of store.

Some of the Care Bears had regrouped and released their Stares as soon as he emerged from the building. For a moment it looked like their strategy was working, but then Malice shifted back to his shadow form and their hearts sank as they watched their beams pass right through him with no effect.

"Well, I guess it was fun while it lasted huh?" he asked them coldly.

"Big Bang...ATTACK!"

The Care Bears looked up in shock as Vegetas Big Bang Attack zoomed over their heads, connecting with the wreckage of the store and destroying the entire thing in an explosion that shook all of Care-A-Lot and threw every one of the Care Bears and Cousins to the ground.

"Vegeta how about some warning next time?!" Goku yelled. "Sure Kakarott, no problem. Why don't I just announce my every move before hand just so there are no surprises, would that help?" Vegeta retorted.

Goku didn't get to answer. A split second later the clouds shook again and with a roar Malice appeared from the wreckage. Even in shadow form, it appeared he could be damaged by the Z fighters ki attacks. Shifting back to physical form, Malice charged head on at the two Saiyans. Vegeta and Goku adopted defensive stances, readying themselves for Malices impending onslaught of attacks.

About 15 feet from them, to their surprise, he abruptly disappeared. Keeping their guard up, they looked all around and probed with their ki in an effort to locate the enemy but with no luck. "He couldn't have just up and vanished." Goku said.

"Apparently he can." was Vegetas reply. The Care Bears, meanwhile, were looking around, doing their best to help locate him. Like the Saiyans, they also had no luck finding their enemy.

"You think he fled?" Vegeta asked.

"Well... if I had to guess I'd say no."

"Correct!" said Malice, materializing behind them. They didn't get the chance to even turn around before he slashed both of them. Yelling in pain, the two turned around, only to discover that he was gone again. "Stop being such a pussy and fight us you coward!" Vegeta yelled, grinding his teeth in rage.

Malice blurred into existence right in front of them.

"If you insist.."

Pulling a fist back, Malice slammed a fist into Gokus nose, breaking it on impact and sending him flying. Vegeta yelled in rage and tried to attack but before he could move he was stabbed through the shoulder and literally skewered to the ground.

"AhhhHHHHH!" he screamed as blood began to leak from the wound. Smiling coldly, Malice squatted down beside him and smiled, staring at him with his bottomless pits for eyes.

"I see no one bothered to teach you royal protocol. Making such a loud racket in front of your superiors...what ill manners you have." he mocked, standing back upright. His other hand extended and began to glow an ominous red. Vegeta struggled to get to his feet but every time he tried the energy from Malices weapon shocked him back to submission.

"Ka me ha me HHHHAAAAA!"

Malice turned in surprise only to be hit by the blast head-on. It propelled him away and off into the distance, ripping his claw out of Vegetas shoulder in the process. The Prince screamed in agony as he was painfully freed from the ground.

Goku extended a hand and Vegeta took it, getting to his feet. They were both a bloody mess and Goku had to coax the nearby Care Bears out of hiding just to get them to come near them.

"Ok guys, we don't have a lot of time before he makes it back here. You need to evacuate this place now while we keep him busy, understand?"

The Care Bears and Cousins nearby looked back and forth at each other, then around at their nearly demolished home as they began to discuss what the safest way to leave was.

That is, until Vegetas patience finally ran out.

"YOU IDIOTS GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW OR WE'RE GOING TO LEAVE YOU BEHIND!"

That did it. The Care Bears that had gathered scattered and ran for the cloud cars. Goku looked at Vegeta in disapproval, "That was a stupid thing to do Vegeta."

"Did it work?" the Prince countered.

"Well yeah I guess." Goku admitted.

"If its stupid, but it worked, its not stupid. Now come on."

Funshine Bear, Lotsa Heart Elephant, Champ Bear, and Playful Heart Monkey reached the cloud cars first. Jumping inside with Funshine at the wheel, they hit the ignition and sped off into the air. They were in flight less than 5 seconds before the clouds rumbled with what they at first thought was another cloud quake. Looking back with a gasp, they discovered that the real cause was much worse.

Malice had already made it back. In a fit of rage, he hurled an energy blast at the parking area for Care-A-Lot, destroying nearly all of the remaining cars plus the few rainbow rollers they had left.

"Not much for downtime is he?" Vegeta said with a snarl. His aura flared and he blasted off like a rocket straight for Malice, Goku following right behind him.

Vegeta reached him first and together the two Super Saiyans swarmed him with punches and kicks. To their surprise he was actually managing to keep up with them, dodging or blocking most of their attacks while launching his own. Goku fazed out and reappeared behind him, aiming a punch for the back of his head. Malice fazed away to dodge, then dodged again when Vegeta tried the same move.

Their faze-war continued for several seconds but ultimately it ended with Malice appearing above and between them. Raising his arms, he brought his elbows down on the Saiyans heads forcefully, sending both of them crashing down. A moment later, he caught sight of Funshine and his passengers as they tried to escape in a cloud car. With an evil smile, he threw a red lightning bolt that connected with their car, causing it to veer wildly off course and crash in front of the caring meter.

"Everybody ok?" Lotsa Heart asked as he turned to check on the backseat passengers. To his horror, he discovered Champ Bear had fallen out of the car before they collided with the steps. Funshine was frantically trying to start his cloud car but to no avail. "Hey, there he is!" exclaimed Playful Heart, pointing to where their fallen friend lay. Champ shakily got to his feet, shaking his head back and forth to regain his focus.

Finally, Funshine got the cloud car to start. "Come on, we're getting out of here!" Lotsa Heart called from inside the car. Champ broke into a full run, sprinting up the stairs as fast as he possible could. Playful Heart leaned out of the car with his paws out, beckoning for Champ Bear to grab hold so he could help him get in.

They had literally just touched when the area around them was engulfed in a heart-stopping explosion. From behind cover, the Care Bears watched helplessly as Malice fired a huge energy blast that struck the waiting cloud car, killing all four of them and destroying the caring meter instantly.

Cheer Bear gasped, covering her mouth while in shock. Malice wasn't the first enemy to attack Care-A-Lot directly, but he was the first to actually kill one of them in the process.

Malice laughed at the carnage and turned away from the scene with smug satisfaction, only to catch Vegetas foot slamming into his head, propelling him backwards until he crashed into the Hall of Hearts like a meteor.

Goku floated up beside him, visibly struggling with his temper. Although he would have loved nothing more than to personally stomp Malice into the ground for his heartless murdering, there were bigger issues at the moment besides revenge.

"Vegeta, do you think we can buy enough time for them to get away?" he asked in a low tone of voice.

"I'm not sure there's going to be any 'getting away' Kakarott." he answered. Suddenly his face lit up with an idea, "Can you use your Instant...whatever.. to get them out of here?"

"Well it worked for Bulma so...yeah." he answered. Vegeta nodded, "You don't have time to screw around taking 2 or 3 at a time, you need to get all of them at once."

"Fine. Just hold him off for a minute or so. When I say I'm ready you need to get back over here as quick as you can so I can take you with us."

Vegeta flew off while Goku called to the Care Bears closest to him, telling them of their plan and directing them to get everybody still in Care-A-Lot over to him.

With a grunt, Malice clawed his way out of the rubble that had very shortly ago been called the Hall of Hearts. Looking up, he saw Vegetas smirking face looking down at him and growled in anger.

"You're going to be very sorry you did that!" he threatened. "Somehow, I think not." Vegeta replied. He released a loud roar as his gold hair stiffened even more and his aura exploded with crackles and sparks of electricity as he went SSJ2. Slamming his wrists against each other, he opened his hands as a massive amount of ki began forming.

Malice stared up at him for a moment before a mocking smile appeared on his face. "Oh look, more fireworks."

Vegeta just grinned, 'Hes making the same mistake Cell did, only this time there isn't going to be any cheating death through regenerating.' he thought to himself as Malice just stood there, stupidly facing the attack head-on.

"You're wasting your time, fool. You have NO chance against a being as powerful as I!"

"How original..." Vegeta replied sarcastically. "When you get to Hell, ask to see Frieza and give him a message from me."

"A message huh? And what would that be?"

"FINAL FLASHHHH!"

The deafening roar of Vegetas attack could be heard from thousands of miles away. The shock wave alone completely destroyed every structure still standing in Care-A-Lot.

Far below, Goten, Trunks, Gohan, Piccolo, Krillan, and every other Z Fighter jerked their heads up in shock at the same time. Trunks and Goten, who had gone back to Gokus home with Chi-Chi after breakfast, suddenly lost all interest in their cartoons. Closing their eyes, the young half-Saiyans strained their senses hard in an effort to get an idea of whats going on.

"I think our dads are fighting that thing from last night." Trunks said with an undertone of worry in his voice. "Should we go help them?" Goten asked. Chi-Chi cut in at that point, telling them their fathers had already told them in advance that under no circumstance should they intervene in any way or form.

The thought of an angry Vegeta and even angrier Chi-Chi proved a suitable deterrent. With a disappointed sigh, the boys returned their attention to the TV and tried not to worry.

Seeing as how they knew their fathers would never team up against anything less than a world-wide threat, this proved a little difficult.

Meditating over the nearby river, Piccolo wasn't exactly thrilled about his session getting interrupted (even if it WAS Gohan doing the interrupting).

"So yeah, that's basically how its looking now." Gohan said after he relayed a nutshell version of events.

"How'd they convince Vegeta to go?"

"They didn't have to, Vegeta found out they may have information on whoever this shadow guy is." Gohan replied.

"So what now?" Piccolo asked, still floating over the waters surface..

"I'm going to wait at Capsule Corp for my father to get back. Krillan and 18 are probably going to meet up with us there later. Vegetas Final Flash is...a little hard to miss, so its got everybody worried about whats going on up there." Gohan answered.

Although he declined to follow him to the Lookout, the Namekian assured Gohan that should a need for his support arise, he would be there ready to offer it.

Back in Care-A-Lot, Goku and Vegetas plan seemed to be working. Tender Heart, Brave Heart, Cheer Bear, Grumpy Bear, and Harmony Bear succeeded in getting the entire population over to the far end of the clouds where Goku was waiting. Some of them looked a little worse for wear after being dug out of the wreckage but still, they were all together.

Vegetas Final Flash had done a little more damage than Goku would have liked. The entire area around the Hall of Hearts, including the caring meters stairs and platform, the kitchen, reception building, and the playground was wiped from existence. The blast had vaporized every last molecule of them, including the clouds they were built on.

To put it into size-related comparison, Vegeta had basically done the equivalent of reducing an aircraft carrier to a childs bath toy.

Surveying his work from above, Saiyan Prince scanned carefully for any sign of his foe. Experience had taught him that just assuming an enemy had perished could have disasterous consequences.

'Vegeta, are you alright?' Goku asked through telepathy. 'I am, this cloud covered fairground isn't though." he replied.

'What about Malice?' Goku answered. Vegeta replied that there was no trace of him and he didn't see him dodge the blast. Deciding to err on the side of caution, Goku told him its time to leave, just in case it turned out to be another surprise ambush.

'Calm yourself Kakarott, he took the full blast head on. Even if it IS alive, he's not going to pull a Cell on me and regenerate himself.'

'How do you know that for sure?'

Vegeta started to get angry over the other Saiyans worrisome questions but said nothing. Goku was right, he DIDN'T know for sure if he'd regenerate or not. The memory of his first Final Flash served as a reminder to never assume anyone was dead simply because they're not moving or can't be found.

'Fine, I'm coming over now.' he replied mentally. Flying over to where everyone was gathered, his aura faded as he slipped out of his SSJ2 state and back to normal. The Care Bears and Cousins joined hands and Vegeta, reluctantly, did likewise.

A few seconds later Goku, Vegeta, and the rest of Care-A-Lots residents materialized in the Capsule Corp lobby. To Goku's surprise Bulma, Gohan, Krillan and 18 were waiting for them. A few minutes later introductions were exchanged and Bulma gave the bad news the taller Saiyan was hoping he wouldn't have to hear.

"Wish Bear... she didn't make it. I'm sorry." Bulma said sadly. A couple of the Care Bears burst into tears, with Bulma almost joining them when she found out that four more of them died trying to escape.

"What about Care-A-Lot?" she asked. For a moment it looked like Goku was about to say "Vegeta blew it up trying to kill Malice", but instead just told her the battle demolished most of it but they had won, at least for the time being.

Quite unexpectedly, Bulma offered to let the care bear family stay at Capsule Corp till their home could be rebuilt. Vegeta scoffed at the idea but didn't press the issue. He'd never admit it out-loud, but deep down he was grateful to "the midget bear and lion" for saving Bulmas life. All jokes of life insurance aside, Vegeta would never forget the way he felt when he'd lost his wife and son during Majin Buu's rampage. It was an experience he was not willing to repeat if he had any say in the matter.

"Where did you put her...Wish I mean..?" Goku asked. "She... disappeared after she...you know.."

Goku just nodded, about to say something else when one of the nurses caught sight of Vegeta and Goku. One look at their ripped clothes and bloody injuries and she started screeching, saying things like "Get the doctor back here." and "Alert the transfusion and trauma team." Vegeta opened his mouth but Gokus hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Hey...just let her put a couple of bandages on you and she'll calm down and leave you alone." Goku said in a hushed voice.

"Piss off baka, I decide when I'm left alone, not her." he answered in a low tone.

"Oh come on Vegeta don't be a baby, its a few band-aids at worst." Goku reassured him while letting the nurse go about applying a little ointment to his cuts and injuries.

"Sir when was the last time you had a Tetanus shot?" the nurse asked, motioning for an aide to bring her her medical bag.

"Well, the last time I got shot was when I was just a boy so, must have been a long time ago." he answered, looking at Vegeta whos nurse was approaching him like he was an atomic bomb she had to disarm.

"I thought as much. Now hold still for me, this will only take a second." he assured him, pulling a syringe out of its plastic casing.

"What will only-" he asked, turning his head in time to see the nurse aiming a needle at his arm.

"N-n-n-n- NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, taking off for the exit so fast the impact ripped the door completely off its hinges.

"Now whose the baby?" Vegeta retorted with a smirk.

...

It took nearly six hours for the creature to fully manifest himself again. The most time-consuming part of the process was regaining enough energy to restore his shadow form. Once he managed that, it was a short leap to his humanoid physical form.

High above the Earth amid the ruins of Care-A-Lot, Malice stared down at the Earth and contemplated his next move. The rag-tag group of fighters who comprised Earths Special Forces appeared to be a bit of a roadblock standing in his way. He had no doubt that eventually the problem would resolve itself, but if he left things as they were it would take a considerably longer time to do so than he'd wanted.

A sudden, evil smile spread across his face and he took off at high speed towards the Earths surface. Soon enough, he had located what he was looking for and changed direction, heading towards a small but popular summer camp located in the middle of a dense forest. His grin broadened when a cabin on the far side of the camps lake came into view.

If the Z Fighters and Care Bears were determined to get in his way, he'd simply take a detour.


	3. Complications of Caring

Chapter three: Complications of Caring.

 _'Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me' is a phrase the large majority of people have heard since early childhood. Mostly, but not always, it was directed at the "out" crowd: the poor kids, the ones considered ugly or unattractive, the ones who for one reason or another didn't fit in with the popular crowd._

 _Like the redheaded boy sitting all alone in the dining hall of the summer camp his parents had pressured him into attending. Not with ill-intent mind you, but in the hopes that maybe he could finally start making friends and have a normal childhood._

 _There is another phrase most people have heard since early childhood that goes, "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions."_

 _In the small redheaded boys case, it applied perfectly._

 _His camp-mates didn't like him and never passed up a chance to remind him of that. His family, while not exactly poor, were certainly near the bottom of the financial totem pole. If he wasn't being teased over that, it was because of his stuttering. If not because of his stuttering, it was because of piss-poor athletic talent._

 _Sometimes, it was nothing more than his unusually bright, nearly orange hair color._

 _The ones running the camp didn't much care about his problems with the other kids. To them, if forty-nine out of fifty kids enrolled at the camp didn't like one specific person, it was probably the kids fault._

 _Besides, being a semi-private camp meant they'd rather lose one kid whose parents had to scrape and save just to have enough money to send him, rather than the forty-nine whose families could easily afford it._

 _And so, in the interest of keeping sponsors and well-to-do parents pleased, the little redheaded boy became a literal nobody. As in, nobody ate with him, nobody wanted to swim or hike with him, nobody wanted him on their baseball team, nobody wanted to talk with him...Nobody wanted him around, period._

 _Except an odd looking man with gray skin and black holes for eyes._

 _After a "chance" encounter, the gray creature became the boys only friend in the entire camp. It didn't take long to earn his trust and once he did, Malice made him an, as the saying goes, "offer he can't refuse."_

 _If the boy would agree to do one small, tiny favor for him, he'd be given everything he needed to strike back at those who gleefully made his life a nightmare._

 _The boys acceptance was immediate._

...

An evil smile spread over the creatures face as he replayed the memory of that day so many years ago. Even with the boys living conditions being what they were, he didn't think the little nobody would agree as easily as he did.

Of course, had he told him that the "small, tiny favor" included selling his soul and becoming little more than his lapdog, he may have declined (especially if forewarned about some of the more horrific jobs that would be required of him). For years, Malice used the boy as his own personal bitch in the struggle against humanity and, more specifically, against the Care Bears.

Of course, nothing lasts forever and that included the boys servitude.

During the final battle with the Care Bear Family, a young brunette named Christy (who had a very similar arrangement with him that he had with Malice), broke their deal and freed the Care Bears from their crystal prison. Caught in the crossfire, Christy was hit by a stray energy attack and was left literally stuck between life and death.

Working with his former enemies, they were able to break the curse and free her mind and soul. No longer under Malice's strangle-hold, the boy and Christy grew up, fell in love, and got married. Since that fateful day years ago, the redheaded boy was allowed to live and enjoy life as a free man, no longer controlled by evil.

But not for long.

Unseen and undetected, he watched as the young man named Derek Hoyt finished securing the boats to the docks. His wife Christy called for him from the open door of the cabin they shared, right by the lake, in the same camp they had met at years ago.

Derek was completely unaware his life was about to take a drastic turn of direction. Humming happily to himself, he trotted off for his cabin completely unaware of Malices presence. He had almost reached the front door when he sudden dropped like a rock, hit by a red lightning strike so agonizing he couldn't even scream.

Christy, at first, had no clue what happened. One moment he was tying off boats and the next he was lying on the ground. Panicked, she dropped the utensils she was holding an raced outside. "Derek whats wrong? Are you ok?" she asked, her voice thick with worry.

The redheaded man on the ground began to laugh; quietly at first, then growing louder and harder until he sounded like a mad lunatic in an asylum.

"Not Derek..." he answered. Christys confusion was written plainly on her face but she ignored it for now. Reaching down, she grabbed his arm to help him to his feet.

"Get away from me..."

Her eyes widened as cold fear began to creep up her spine, "Derek please, tell me whats wrong." Her husbands voice sounded so different, so...evil. He sounded the same way he did back when he was-

He lifted his head up to look at her and she went from cold fear to frozen horror. Dereks bright blue eyes had changed into the malevolent red they were when they first met.

"Not Derek.." he repeated, "I...am...Dark Heart." A few seconds later when she finally got her trembling voice under control, she reached out for him with unsteady hands, telling him how hes stronger than this and pleading for him to fight it off.

To her great shock he back-handed her so hard she cried out, her vision distorted from the tears forming in her eyes. Without a glance backward, he transformed into the same red mist he had used before and took off, flying at high speed until finally he was too far out of range to see.

Christys tearing up changed into full-blown crying, falling to her knees in shock.

"Oh God this cant be happening. Derek please...what am I going to do now?"

...

It'd been four days since Care-A-Lot was attacked. Although still highly emotional and saddened, the Care Bears decided to put their grieving on hold for a while and resume their duty of caring for the world as best as they could. Given their current state of affairs, "as best as they could" meant either having to use Nimbus, or hitching a ride with one of the Z Fighters. Deprived of their own means of transportation, their effectiveness and capacity to help those in need took a steep drop.

With their caring meter gone, the Care Bears were more-or-less flying blind with no way to monitor the level of caring on Earth. They came to Bulma with their dilemma and the blue-haired scientist was happy to help. A couple of days later, they had a brand new caring meter. It wasn't as big or ornate as their old one but it'd do the job just fine.

Standing in a circle, the Care Bear family held hands and concentrated. Their tummy symbols began to glow and in no time at all they had the last piece they needed; a Care Crystal. This vital part is what enabled the meter to monitor the amount of caring on Earth. Formed from their love and feelings, the Care Crystal was about the size of a baseball and sparkled brighter than any diamond on the planet.

With Bulma, her parents, Trunks, and Goten watching, Grumpy Bear installed the crystal into its proper place. When it began to glow, he smiled in satisfaction and closed the access panel. There was, however, one small problem.

"Sorry Grumpy, but looks like you did something wrong." said Bright Heart Raccoon. Before they were forced to leave Care-A-Lot, the meter was reading 10 out of 12. Now, for whatever reason, it was reading 7 out of 12.

Looking at the meter's face with annoyance, Grumpy opened the panel again, removed the crystal, and re-inserted it. "Still 7 out of 12." Bright Heart said.

Once again, Grumpy removed the crystal but this time checked the gears, springs, and mechanisms. When they all were found to be working properly, he fit the crystal back into place. It lit up again, and this time...

"Still on 7 Grumpy."

"Ok this is stupid. Its glowing, all the parts are working, and everything's installed correctly but its still giving false readings." Grumpy said in a gruffer, more irritated tone than usual.

Secret Bear tapped Friend Bear on the shoulder, whispering something in her ear. "Secret Bear says there's nothing wrong with the meter." she relayed.

"Well if there's nothing wrong with it why does-" Grumpy started to retort before a look of fear crossed his face. What if the meter really WAS correct?

"There is no way that's right. When we left Care-A-Lot it was on 10, now less than a week later it drops 3 levels?" Brave Heart protested.

"How fast does it normally fall?" Dr. Briefs asked.

"Well when Dark Heart was still around it dropped about 1 level every two or three weeks." Tender Heart replied.

"And when Nicholas and the Spirit Book were causing trouble it was about 1 level every 7-10 days but thats because his influence was spread much farther than Dark Hearts." Cheer Bear answered, adding that even with all the problems caused by those two, it still didn't drop as fast as it was currently.

At the moment Bulmas phone began to ring. She flipped it open and held it to her ear.

"Bulma Briefs spea- oh hey Gohan, everything ok?"

A few seconds of silence later and Bulma thanked him and hung up. "Cheer could you please grab my tablet off my desk?" Bulma requested. Cheer left the room, coming back a minute or two later with Bulmas requested item.

"Everything ok?" she asked while handing it over. "I'm not sure...Gohan told me to check the news because there was something going on he thought I needed to see."

 _"...equipped and trained to handle the situation, adding that they will seek charges against participants."_

An on-screen name-box appeared at the bottom of the screen, listing the reporter as Basil Everhurst, and her location as Orange Star City. Behind her was what appeared to be a full-blown riot in progress. Several vehicles had been rolled over or vandalized and a couple of them were even on fire. The camera zoomed in on a group of teenagers as they threw rocks or bricks through storefront windows.

"Officials are still speculating over the motivating factor behind such a wide-spread disturbance that still shows no clear sign of coming to a close. For SCTV, I'm Basil Everhurst."

"Well I guess that helps explain the drop on the caring meter." Grumpy said with a scowl.

Trunks nudged his friend as a huge grin spread over his face, "Hey Goten, lets go beat those guys up. Bet that'd help bring the Caring Meter up a notch or two."

"Yeah! I'm with you Trunks. Come on."

"Hold it buster! Where do you two think you're going?" Bulma asked.

"Well, the Caring Meter dropped a little because of all the people rioting at Orange Star City right? Well me and Goten are gonna go beat some of them up... you know, teach 'em a lesson." Trunks replied.

"That way they'll stop fighting and wrecking things, right Trunks?" Goten added. His friend nodded in agreement, trying not to grin too broadly. Although a small part of the boys motivation really was as they claimed, the bulk of it was they were two half-Saiyans and loved to fight.

"Trunks, Goten...its very touching that you want to help, but fighting isn't the answer." Cheer Bear told them in a gentle tone of voice. Deep down, Cheer knew, just as the rest of the Family did, that sometimes fighting was unavoidable. She wasn't about to say that in front of two eager half-Saiyans obviously, but she wasn't naive enough to believe that every crisis could be solved without fighting.

"Cheer Bears right." Tender Heart added, "I don't know what's going on to make people act like that, but its probably something that would be helped a great deal by just talking about it."

'Good luck with that.' Trunks thought to himself.

Tempting as it may be to risk it and go anyway, he knew that such an action could easily lead to having to deal with an exceptionally angry mother and, by extension, an angry father. For Goten, the outcome would be even worse. Even if his father supported the idea, his mother would surely not, and all hope of Goku coming to his defense would be gone the moment Chi-Chi started one of her famous bitch-fits.

Slightly bummed out, the boys decided that if they couldn't go beat the rioters and criminals up, they'd do the next best thing: beat each other up. As they took off to one of the many remote locations used for sparring, Bulma just sighed, concerned that before long her purple haired boy was going to adopt his fathers habit of acting first, then reasoning.

She took comfort in the fact that at least Trunks vocalized his intentions instead of just up and leaving. Had it been Vegeta in his shoes, he'd have just left without a word and she probably wouldn't have known unless he or one of the other Z Fighters told her about it.

Or unless he got carried away and ended up on the nightly news channels.

...

Within a few days, life at Capsule Corp seemed to more-or-less fall into a loose rhythm.

Goku, Gohan, Trunks, Goten, Krillan, and Yamcha had begun "taking turns" flying the Care Bears to whereever they were needed. Dende, being the Guardian of the Earth, did the best he could to assist from his vantage point on the Lookout. With Wish Bear and her Star Scope gone, the young Namekian would contact whatever Z Fighter was available and relay the information about who needed what and where. If no one was available to take them, the Care Bears would use Nimbus or, on occasion, Bulma would fly them to and from their destination.

Despite all that the Care Bears had going against them, they still tried very hard to brighten the day of those in need, especially their newfound friends at Capsule Corp.

Bulma would have never guessed such an odd assortment of multi-colored small animals could be so helpful. Bright Heart Raccoon turned out to be a big help in the labs, just as Grumpy was in maintenance.

Swift Heart Rabbit was undoubtedly the fastest errand runner she'd ever seen, aside from Gokus Instant Transmission that is. Marron, the young blonde daughter of Krillan and Android 18, had put in she wanted to be a cheerleader when she was a little older, and so had taken a strong liking to Cheer Bear.

Like most kids, Trunks and Goten were very fond of video games (especially first-person shooters) and one night decided to ask Share Bear if she'd like to play.

As one could imagine, giving a Care Bear a machine gun with instructions to go around murdering people was not a good idea.

"Whats your problem? I'm just trying to talk to you!" she yelled in annoyance. Told to stay at headquarters and guard her teams flag, Share Bear did what any Care Bear would have done in her situation: Attempt to get the enemy to share their feelings on why they'd want to steal something that doesn't belong to them.

"You're supposed to kill them when they break in." Goten told her. Trunks nodded in agreement, adding that that was the entire point behind this particular game mode. "Can't our team and their team just share the flag instead of killing each other over it?" she asked innocently. "Goten we need to switch modes, shes sucking at this one." Trunks commented after a few more minutes had gone by.

Changing the type to Team Deathmatch, they soon discovered that also posed several problems.

"Wait! Where is everyone going?" she asked out-loud after the team split up 5 seconds into the game. "Share Bear you're on a team, but you're supposed to go off on your own to score kills." Trunks tried to explain. Forty-five minutes later, Share had scored exactly 1 kill and it was friendly fire.

"Lets try free-for-all Trunks, that ones easy." Goten suggested.

"Ok Share Bear, there are no teams, no flags, and no headquarters, ok?" Trunks asked. The purple Care Bear nodded in understanding.

"You're supposed to shoot everyone you see, got it? Everyone you will see is an enemy that's trying to kill you, so kill them first." Goten added. "Got it." Share Bear acknowledged.

"It feels like we're talking to a little kid." Trunks complained while the game loaded.

"Uh...aren't WE little kids?" Goten asked. The brainless, half-witted expression on his face made his father look like Einstein.

Share Bear was doing horrible, as predicted. To her credit, she did seem to do better in this game mode than the others. At least the boys had gotten her to understand the concept of "everybody shoots everybody because they're all enemies."

"Hey Goten, shes still losing but I think maybe she gets it now." Trunks commented.

"Oh no! Someones hurt over there!" Share said in alarm. One of the players had gone into Last Stand and Share's Care Bear instinct kicked in, prompting her to run to the fallen player in the hopes of helping.

"NOOOOOOO!" Goten and Trunks yelled in unison.

Too late. The minute the downed enemy saw her coming he took aim and put a bullet in her head.

Trunks just face-palmed with a sigh, "No more shooters for you, lets stick with Pokemon or something."

The boys weren't the only ones having difficulty with their new friends. While practicing with Marron one afternoon, Cheer Bear became curious as to what was going on in that weird looking house next to the Capsule Corp building. Every so often the building would start to shake, or the ground would rumble, or loud yelling and cursing could be heard from the outside.

Finally she asked about it and found out the "house" was actually Vegetas Gravity Chamber, and that the noises and tremors she had felt was because of his high-intensity training. Curious about what was going on in there, the pink Care Bear borrowed a small step ladder and climbed up to watch through one of the viewing portals.

At first she saw only a few metal ball-type things floating around shooting energy blasts at something. Scanning the inside of the red-tinted room, she at first couldn't see what they were supposed to be shooting at. Then she saw Vegeta appear off to her right, jumping straight up into the air just as a wave of energy collided with the wall where he had been standing.

'Oh so THATS what he's doing.' Cheer thought silently to herself, 'He's working really hard at this... plus he's so good at it!'

The training droids veered off course and re-grouped into a side-by-side formation at one end of the room while Vegeta readied himself at the other. With the droids starting to glow in preparation for an attack, Vegeta just smirked and stood his ground, facing them head on as they powered up for an attack.

"Hey Vegeta!" Cheer yelled, tapping on the portal. Taken totally by surprise, he turned to look and saw Cheer Bear grinning at him from outside the chamber.

"You're doing great!" she yelled, giving him a thumbs-up.

"What the hell do you think-" he started to yell but never got to finish. In the split-second that his attention was diverted to the Care Bear watching him, the training droids all fired at once. Hit by all five of the charged-up blasts, Vegeta was propelled off his feet and into the wall of the chamber, crashing into it with the force of a minor earthquake.

Without hesitation, Cheer jumped down and ran to the door of the chamber, ready to do her best at caring for the injured Prince.

Nearly two hours later, Vegeta had finally calmed down enough that Bulma felt reasonably certain he wouldn't kill the little pink bear in her sleep. Cheer Bear tried numerous times to apologize but never made any progress with the enraged Saiyan. On one hand, Vegeta knew the weird little creature was only trying to compliment him and hadn't intended to cause him injury.

On the other hand, fuck her, nobody disturbs the Prince of all Saiyans during training.

...

"It feels like we've been away for years." Noble Heart yawned behind the wheel of the Cloud Clipper, his and True Heart Bears favorite way of getting around in the skies far above Earth. Although sailing through the Rainbow River was a little more time consuming than cars or Rainbow Rollers, it was also very relaxing and left a lot of free time for talking and laughing.

But as soon as Care-A-Lot came into view, any laughing ceased instantly.

"Are you sure we went the right way?" True Heart asked. Standing on deck, they surveyed the area with a frozen lump caught in their throats. The remains of the dock assured them they were indeed in Care-A-Lot, but that was the only thing they were sure of.

The homes of various Care Bears had been reduced to little more than a heap of bricks. Proud Heart Cats bakery was little more than a few pieces of the foundation. The Hall of Hearts was simply gone, as was the Caring Meter, its stairway and platform, and Friendship Hall where so many meals were cooked and good times had.

Black scorch marks littered the ground. No birds were singing, no laughter or voices heard. It looked like Care-A-Lot had been on the losing end of an all-out war.

"Who could have possibly done this..?" True Heart asked quietly. She caught sight of something shiny on the ground and bent down to retrieve it. "What'd you find?" Noble Heart asked.

True Heart turned around and showed it to him. It was Wish Bears Star Scope, and it had dried blood on it. For a moment neither said a word, then a high-pitched squeaking caught their attention and they followed it to its source. Half-buried in the clouds, the Heart Buddy squeaked weakly, trying to get their attention.

Kneeling down, Noble Heart picked it up and held it to his ear. The more the Heart Buddy talked, the worse Noble Hearts expression became. Finally it could hold out no longer and fell silent, its body fading away as it died.

"What did he say?" True Heart asked, helping her friend back to his feet.

"He said Malice attacked Care-A-Lot when the visitors from Earth arrived, and that he killed Funshine, Lotsa, Playful, and Champ, and possibly Wish Bear too. "

True Hearts eyes widened and she clamped a hand over her mouth to muffle her shocked gasps.

"And also that the family was evacuated to somewhere called Capsule Corporation." Noble Heart continued.

"We HAVE to get down there as quick as possible." True Heart decided.

"But how? The Cloud Clipper can't make the trip to Earth." the purpose horse reminded her.

True Heart thought it over for several seconds before getting an idea. "Lets split up and see if we can find any Cloud Cars that are usable." she suggested. Within the hour, they were able to locate two that had suffered only minor damage. Repairs were easy and shortly after they were ready to leave.

"Come on, we have to hurry." True Heart said as she sat behind the wheel. Noble followed suit and seconds later they were on their way to Earth, both of them secretly afraid of what they would discover once they arrived.


End file.
